Of six seven sisters
Montevergine is a treasure,
of six seven sisters
Montevergine is the most beautiful
Thus sings the people of the tammorra at the foot of the effigy of Mamma Schiavona, on the road of faith and folklore that meets Seven Madonnas for seven ancient rites in different places in Campania: the Madonna dell'Arco of Sant'Anastasia and the Madonna Pacchiana of Castello di Somma Vesuviana, then there is the Madonna delle Galline of Pagani, the Madonna dei Bagni of Scafati, the Madonna dell'Avvocata of Maiori, the Madonna of Materdomini of Nocera Superiore and our Madonna of Montevergine that opens - in February with the Candelora - and closes - in September with the Juta - the cycle of Marian worship.
This year, the traditional festival of Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo – “'A Juta a Montevergine” – reaches its 25th edition, a historic event that will once again see the artistic direction of the multifaceted artist Fiorenza Calogero.
Mamma Schiavona and the Six Sisters is the title imagined to present this event that will bring together the Seven Sisters in a single great popular festival and, in a metaphorical sense, will bring together all the popular traditions of the regional territory.
Music, culture, tradition and devotion, it is the popular world that maintains the red thread that binds these festivities, a reason that pushes the artistic director Fiorenza Calogero - always guardian and witness of ancient popular traditions - to bring together the rites of the Seven Madonnas in the small Irpinia village, on the slopes of Montevergine. This long-awaited anniversary of Juta will be a unique celebration, a meeting of peoples, a fascinating story, of great historical and anthropological impact, a "sisterhood" that - according to scholars - represents a call to paganism, from which the cults and traditions linked to the territories of Stabia, Avellino, Salerno, Agro Nocerino Sarnesi, Naples and Vesuvian originate.
In Ospedaletto you will meet these dark Madonnas, with faces that are both common and regal, painted images or ancient sculptures. They are Madonnas who bleed, who save fishermen or who protect the mountain, they are Mothers, all linked to the one great Mother Earth, generator of beneficial fruits, in a cycle of regeneration and rebirth that traditionally expresses itself in the dance of the tammurriata, considered auspicious and propitiatory. Each Madonna has her own tammurriata, each has a different rhythm, beaten on the drums to chase away adversity and awaken nature.
For a long time, the artist Fiorenza Calogero has been committed to recovering and preserving these particular songs, with the festive rhythms that mark the veneration of the Seven Madonnas, bringing them every time to the stages of the entire Mediterranean basin, and beyond. An extremely relevant work also on a pedagogical level, because it involves even the very young in the "songs of tradition", helping them to rediscover their cultural roots, following the myths and extraordinary legends of their land, of which today, thanks to popular songs, we can still hear the echo.
GRAPHIC DESIGN 'A JUTA
In the graphic design of the 25th edition this link between the Seven Sisters is highlighted through the use of symbols representing the Seven Madonnas:
– The Arch for the Madonna of the Arch of Sant'Anastasia
– The globe for the Madonna Pacchiana of Castello di Somma Vesuviana
– The hen for the Madonna delle Galline of Pagani
– Water for the Madonna dei Bagni of Scafati
– The anchor for the Madonna dell'Avvocata of Maiori
– The hand that indicates the way to the Madonna of Materdomini of Nocera Superiore
– The candle for the Madonna of Montevergine
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